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<title>who's got their claws in you my friend / into your heart i'll beat again by bigembarrassingheart</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24407428">who's got their claws in you my friend / into your heart i'll beat again</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigembarrassingheart/pseuds/bigembarrassingheart'>bigembarrassingheart</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Frances Ha (2012)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/F, Falling In Love, Fluff, Getting Together</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 05:01:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,110</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24407428</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/bigembarrassingheart/pseuds/bigembarrassingheart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Frances and Sophie at a few crucial moments in their relationship.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Frances Halladay/Sophie Levee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>who's got their claws in you my friend / into your heart i'll beat again</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Frances could tell Sophie was looking at her. She turned away from the guy telling her about Akira Kurosawa, and turned to her best friend, smiling from across the room.</p><p>They were drunk, at a party in college. Life was good. Frances and Sophie’s story of us had just been realised.</p><p>So, they’re at a party, smiling at each other.</p><p>“Who are you looking at?” the Kurosawa guy asked.<br/>
“My best friend Sophie.”<br/>
“Have you seen Seven Samurai?”</p><p>Sophie wandered over, threw her arm over Frances’ shoulder, laughed.</p><p>“Will you come with me to the bathroom, Sophie?” Frances asked. Sophie nodded, and they walked off together, the Kurosawa guy wandering off to find another beautiful pupil.</p><p>In the bathroom, Frances washed her hands.</p><p>“God, I’m drunk.” Sophie muttered, sitting on the sink.<br/>
“Tomorrow, when we’re hungover, let’s hang out.”</p><p>Sophie laughed, and Frances thought to herself that she would endure a thousand hangovers just to hear her best friend laugh at something she had said. </p><p>“Hungover Frances isn’t fun.”<br/>
“Drunk Frances is batshit crazy.”</p><p>Another laugh, another sunbeam.</p><p>“Drunk Frances is beautiful.”<br/>
“Drunk Sophie is beautiful too.”</p><p>And because they were drunk and beautiful and in the bathroom of a college party, Frances leaned in and kissed Sophie.</p><p>“Fuck, I don’t feel well.” Sophie broke away after a few sunbeam moments, and rushed to the toilet.</p><p>Frances held her hair back, and they ate lots of fried food the next day, and even though they never talked about the kiss, it just became another part of their foundation.</p><p>--</p><p>Frances was looking at Sophie, and Sophie was looking at Frances. They broke apart from a kiss. Not a real kiss, just a fake and drunken makeout at the end of a party.</p><p>Frances had a crush on a boy, a boy who seemed to like her, but not enough. So, after a few hours of alcohol and laughing and crying, this was their plan. She wasn’t really sure whether this kiss was supposed to entice or upset him, but it quieted her stomach nonetheless.</p><p>The boy didn’t really do anything, just laughed and went home.</p><p>Around three am, when Frances and Sophie went home, they took off their socks and got into Sophie’s bed.</p><p>“Frances?”<br/>
“Yeah?”</p><p>“Frances, I love you, but I can’t keep getting drunk and kissing you at parties.”</p><p>“Okay.”<br/>
“I’m sorry.”<br/>
“Don’t be. It’s not like I’m a lesbian.”</p><p>The sunbeams were gone behind a cloud, so Frances had to say something.</p><p>“Tell me the story of us?”<br/>
“Okay.” Sophie said. </p><p>So Sophie talked, and Frances talked, and Frances lay her head on Sophie’s shoulder, and Sophie didn’t say anything, and Sophie fell asleep, and Frances fell asleep.</p><p>--</p><p>Sophie was looking at Frances, but Frances didn’t notice. She was dancing on stage, totally focused, and even though Sophie had never performed on a stage she figured the lights would be bright.</p><p>Even though she had daydreams of being famous, which, contrary to what an ex-boyfriend had told her, didn’t make her vain, Sophie didn’t belong onstage. </p><p>Frances did. Sophie could tell, even before they knew each other. Just in the way she smiled, and the way when even she was being quiet in class she was loud.</p><p>And still now, even as Sophie knew she struggled and cried, Frances belonged in the space where you couldn’t see anything but the performance. </p><p>The dancers finished, and Sophie clapped.</p><p>After, Sophie hugged Frances, and everyone smiled so broadly, and in more ways than one Sophie felt like the clouds were parting. </p><p>“I thought your boyfriend was coming.” Frances said, as they waited in line for the bathroom. They were always talking in bathrooms.</p><p>“He was, but we broke up today.”<br/>
“Sophie!” she exclaimed, loudly.<br/>
“It’s okay. I’m not upset, really. I thought I really loved him, but I guess I didn’t.”</p><p>“I hate when that happens.” Frances said.<br/>
“I mostly just feel relieved.”<br/>
“But you’ve just found out you were living a lie! And you’ve wasted all that time on him.”</p><p>“I saw something that said you can never waste time on someone. You can always learn from the experience.” Sophie offered. </p><p>“What have you learned?”<br/>
“I don’t know yet.”</p><p>Frances laughed, and Sophie felt the clouds continue to part.</p><p>“You were great tonight. Really great.” She said.<br/>
“Was I?”</p><p>They talked and talked, all night long just the two of them. Talking all the way from the performance hall to the subway to the pizza place to the subway to the street to their apartment to the couch to the bathroom to bed.</p><p>And as Sophie watched Frances take off her makeup, she wanted to tell her what she had learned. But she didn’t, because what she had learned was how Frances’ hair looked sprawled across her pillow.</p><p>--</p><p>Frances was looking at her parents, dancing with their friends in the living room twinkling with Christmas lights. She turned and saw Sophie looking at her, smiling.</p><p>They stood together, holding their paper plates and wine glasses.</p><p>“I love my parents.” Frances said.<br/>
“I can tell.” </p><p>“This is a great party.”<br/>
“I like Sacramento. I like that I don’t have to wear a coat.” Sophie said.<br/>
“You don’t wear coats.”<br/>
“I should, though.” </p><p>Frances and Sophie danced together, laughing and spinning into each other. And when they got tired, they fell asleep on the couch together, like little kids. </p><p>Around two am, Frances woke up, groggy and blinking, her back hurting. </p><p>“Sophie.” she said, poking her.<br/>
“What?” Sophie replied, her eyes still closed.<br/>
“Get up. Let’s go to bed.”<br/>
“I’m already in bed.”<br/>
“No, you’re not. You’re on the couch. My bed is so much more comfortable.” </p><p>So Sophie got up, and Frances took her hand, smiling even though her eyes were burning, and they curled up into each other like rabbits in Frances’ bed, and they slept. </p><p>In the morning, Frances slowly made a coffee for Sophie, almost grinning with how nice it felt to do something for her best friend, and got back into bed, warm with Sophie next to her.</p><p>“Sophie. I made you coffee.” She whispered, touching her hair.<br/>
“Thank you.” She whispered.</p><p>“I love you, Sophie.”<br/>
“I love you, Frances.”</p><p>And then, her eyes still half-closed, Sophie sat up and kissed Frances. Frances kissed her back.</p><p>“Can I tell you a secret?” Frances asked, holding Sophie’s hand as they watched TV that night.<br/>
“Sure.”<br/>
“I’ve wanted to kiss you for a long time.”<br/>
“Why didn’t you?”<br/>
“In college you told me not to.”</p><p>Sophie laughed, and the sunbeams announced their decision to stay around for a long time.<br/>
“We all have to grow up sometime, Frances.”</p>
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